Broadband and mobile coverage in "hard-to-reach" places

Former_MSE_Will · 27 August 2015 at 10:20AM

MPs in the Culture, Media and Sport Committee are looking at superfast broadband and mobile coverage in "hard-to-reach" places in the UK. They are particularly interested in rural areas and places with bad connections in inner cities.

What role should the Government, Ofcom (the regulator) and industry play in extending superfast broadband to hard-to-reach premises?

Do you think there is enough competition in these areas, if not, what would better competition look like?

Please tell us your thoughts and we’ll pass them on to the MPs.

UPDATE: We'll send the views received up until 30 September 2015 to the MPs - thanks very much for all your replies. We won't be able to pass on any further comments as the Committee will now move on to other stages of its inquiry.

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shelldrew · 2 September 2015 at 6:15AM

I live in rural Norfolk, Just outside of King's Lynn, The internet connection is poor-we also run a business and would find superfast broadband so much easier. At the moment we're lucky to get anything over 1mb. Our mobile signal isn't brilliant often drops out and there's parts of the house that are complete dead zones.

amandaleeds · 2 September 2015 at 7:33AM

I live in a city and struggle to get a decent signal with EE. Often no signal in the flat when their website shows it should be top signal and often struggle to get 4G in the city and rural areas when friends with phones on other networks seem fine. Can the government ensure companies tell the truth on their coverage sites?

pete-20-11 · 2 September 2015 at 7:38AM

I live in Birmingham in a built up area, yet only get 2Mbps, 2.1 if I'm lucky.

It is a new build estate, yet the developer didn't see the need to provide fast broadband - we are left connected to a CAB half a mile away, which BT won't upgrade to fibre as it is not commercially viable.

Virgin Media has a lot of customers in the area, but their cables don't go down our road. Maybe one day they will, but we can't start looking at this until the road is officially owned by the council.

4G is available, but it is too expensive for high usage (e.g. Netflix, now TV, etc). I used 20 GB last month, sometimes 40-50GB.

I'd be interested in EE's 4G for home (mains powered 4G router) but they are only available in certain towns mostly up north.

I think the government should mandate that all new roads and new housing developments should come with superfast broadband - as happens in other countries.

It would be nice if BT could be forced to enable every CAB for fibre, but I guess that could be very costly in some areas.

It would be good if Virgin Media could share BT ducting, to save digging up roads, that one could take some work to achieve though!!!

jmurphy84 · 2 September 2015 at 7:45AM

I live in South Manchester, Brooklands a suburb of Wythenshawe in a cul-de-sac that's only 10 years old. We've lived in our property over a year now and broadband speeds just aren't quick enough for our needs.

The biggest problem I have now is that I wish to start running a business from home but in order to do that as effectively as possible I really need access to faster broadband speeds. Especially in an age where streaming is so ubiqituous it makes it almost impossible to get anything done when the kids are in the house sharing the broadband connection. Having your own business line installed is prohibitively expensive (up front fees are very costly).

Really we just need high-speed broadband not the standard 17mb which these days just doesn't cut it any more given the size of downloads. Having checked BTs broadband checker I can see the exchange a mile away is high speed capable but nothing has been done with it since we moved in. If we lived in a rural area I would understand the hold-up but it's not immediately obvious what the hold-up is.

It's not like there isn't a demand in our area for high speed broadband.

Can the government start ensuring that residents are properly informed and given realistic timescales as to when work might be completed? Otherwise we're just left in the dark...

veryintrigued · 2 September 2015 at 7:46AM

We live in the urban North midlands and a mast has been inop since Feb. We're on Orange (EE) but are informed that this mast is used by other operators too.

No-one (EE and even the local MP who is on this committee) seem able to get it fixed meaning thousands cant use their mobile for calls never mind 3g!!

Red_sky · 2 September 2015 at 7:50AM

Seems ridiculous in this day and age that we can't get a good mobile signal or internet connection. I live in the RG7 area and can't get a good mobile signal from EE even though they tell me it should be 2 or3/5 signal strength which it certainly is not, we're lucky if we get one bar, and we are only in a semi-rural area. It's the same with many places. Another example RG26 signal keeps dropping out with EE and you're lucky to even get one bar signal strength. Where my friends are in Suffolk they have no signal what-so-ever. The govt and OFCOM really need to do something that makes it compulsory for everybody to receive a decent signal even in remote areas. I guess more masts would be the only solution or a stronger signal being transmitted but something needs to be done. I also spend time in a rural area of a 'developing country' and I can always get a 5 bar signal strength there with masts all over the place. Makes you wonder who is the 'developing' country these days. We are so far behind some of the other countries especially those in the far east. Something needs to be done and quick.

richardneill777 · 2 September 2015 at 8:03AM

I live in a village about 25 minutes drive from Belfast and about 5 minutes drive from the M2 motorway. I can't get any landline broadband and even the phone line is poor! My only option is expensive; a 3 network dongle plugged into a router with an external aerial. BT have connected our house, along with several others to an exchange 8.5 miles away instead of the much closer exchange. They wont upgrade any of the network as it's not economically viable. VERY FRUSTRATING!!

jelspeth70 · 2 September 2015 at 8:06AM

I visit the peak district regularly, and travel from the north. I'm on O2 and as soon as I exit Knutsford I start to lose signal. I have been stuck on the peaks at night, alone, in winter, in a broken down car with no mobile signal. In such a bleak area, good mobile signal is paramount as a matter of public safety; for ALL networks! I shouldn't have to buy a different phone on a different network. If my sat nav can work, why can't mobile signal?

RaspberryFool · 2 September 2015 at 8:10AM

We live in the Scottish Borders. My employer is positively encouraging its staff to work from home two days per week in order to ensure that its reduced office space can accommodate its work force. However, this is not much good when the broadband connection is slow and/or frequently dropping out. Being a small village, we are probably last on the list to get upgraded to fibre optics.

Allis_Chalmers · 2 September 2015 at 8:18AM

I live in rural North Devon. "Broadband" here is laughably slow and I only have a 2G mobile signal. I moved here from Gloucestershire where the situation was similarly bad. The rural economy in many areas is struggling (a fact that the-powers-that-be in London refuse to acknowledge) and fast broadband - never mind super-fast - would provide a huge boost. Cornwall has super-fast broadband under a pilot scheme - if it can be done there, why not everywhere?
As Red sky says, this situatIon needs to be sorted ASAP.

Broadband and mobile coverage in "hard-to-reach" places

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